They're easily the worst team in the Big 12. Not only has the Kansas Jayhawks football team lost 10 games in a row, but the team doesn't have the talent level that so many in the conference have. Kansas State and Iowa State are on the way up. The Oklahoma-based teams are always powerful year after year. The Texas teams have the recruiting base and the brand. KU, in other words, is not a desirable destination for many head coaching candidates.
Those aren't the only reasons why Kansas might have a rough time finding the right guy, but it's also a Big 12 coaching position no matter how you slice it. And the team was competitive nationally only a few seasons ago under Mark Mangino. Sports Illustrated has a look at what Gill's replacement will face and who it could be.
"There is expected to be a broad pool of candidates. Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach and former South Florida coach Jim Leavitt both have ties to the Big 12, and Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora and Houston coach Kevin Sumlin have taken mid-major programs to national prestige. Whoever is chosen will take over a program that went 12-1 and won the Orange Bowl in 2007, and finished the season ranked No. 7 in the AP poll. But he'll also take over a program that, like those at North Carolina and Duke, resides firmly in the shadow of the school's basketball program."